EDITOR’S NOTE It is often called the...

EDITOR’S NOTE

It is often called the best photo the Daily Pilot never published.

But no more.

On that fateful May day in 1999, emotion-filled editors and

photographers entered into a debate. Should we run a photo that

contained a tarp covering the dead body of 4-year-old Sierra Soto as

it lay next to a kneeling, somber firefighter, Gregg Steward?

It was a dramatic moment and one that was sure to leave an

indelible memory with our readers. The arguments pro and con went

late into the night.

The answer ultimately that night was no.

The reason was a noble one. We did not want to inflict more pain

on the parents by publishing a photo that showed their dead child on

the front page of their community newspaper.

Many that night disagreed with that verdict. They believed the

photo, shot by longtime photographer Don Leach, should have ran.

There was precedent for such photos being published in the past. Why

should this one be different?

It’s a difficult debate. .

As the five-year anniversary of the preschool murders loomed, the

lobbying began again to publish the photo and let the readers finally

see it. After discussing it with the mother of Sierra Soto, whose

thoughts appear below, we decided to publish the photo.

Again, we believe this is the right decision.

-- Tony Dodero

SIERRA’S MOTHER

Cindy Soto Beckett, said she felt a sense of comfort when she saw

a firefighter sitting near her daughter’s covered body.

“When I saw him sitting there that was the moment I felt OK,” she

said. “I felt comforted that my daughter was not lying there by

herself -- alone.”

She said she was shocked when she saw television footage of that

scene for the first time.

“But it’s OK. I would want your readers to see it because I don’t

want anyone to ever forget that this happened. I don’t want anyone to

forget Sierra.”

THE FIREFIGHTER

Costa Mesa Fire Deputy Chief Gregg Steward, a captain at the time,

watched over Sierra’s body as his colleagues cleared the scene.

“When I was sitting there by her side, I heard her mother, Cindy,

scream,” he said. “I was thinking maybe she wanted to be sitting

where I was sitting, but then I thought maybe she didn’t want to be

there. I felt like I had to be there because her parents couldn’t.”